The development came as it emerged India's intelligence agencies are fighting an internal war over the security lapse behind last week's terrorist attack in Mumbai which killed almost 180 people.

The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW), the agency responsible for gathering intelligence overseas, and the Intelligence Bureau (IB), which amounts to India's version of MI5 and has responsibility for internal security, are blaming one another.

The RAW claims to have issued four warnings to the authorities of an attack on four 'sea facing' luxury hotels in Mumbai, including the Taj. But those who received the warnings say there were "vague and imprecise".

The two intelligence agencies are also in bitter disagreement with the navy over its failure to stop the fishing trawler which brought the terrorists to within 5 miles of Mumbai. They say that the navy had been alerted to the boat's existence and given the coordinates of its location.

But Adml Sureesh Mehta, the navy's commander, denied receiving any "actionable intelligence" from RAW or the IB that could have led his warships to intercept the trawler. "General intelligence alerts are of no practical use," he said.

Former RAW officials also questioned the credibility of the agency's warnings. "Presently, the RAW does not have any terrorism and counter-terrorism expertise at senior levels," said B. Raman, the former head of the agency's Pakistan desk. Others said that RAW depends too heavily on technical rather than human intelligence.

"We have become addicted to technology, forgetting it is a tool and will not replace human intelligence," said V K Singh, a retired Major-General and former RAW signals analyst.